Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) Sees Strong Trading Volume After Dividend Announcement

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. 1,443,343 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 329% from the previous session’s volume of 336,511 shares.The stock last traded at $23.65 and had previously closed at $23.07.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s previous dividend of $0.05. This represents a dividend yield of 7.06%. Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s payout ratio is currently 90.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on TSLX. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.50 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $22.50 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.79.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.08. The company has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.56 and a beta of 1.06.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $123.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $120.07 million. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 38.67%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 378.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 3,238 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the 4th quarter worth approximately $109,000. 70.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc (NYSE: TSLX) is a business development company. The fund provides senior secured loans (first-lien, second-lien, and unitranche), unsecured loans, mezzanine debt, and investments in corporate bonds and equity securities and structured products, non-control structured equity, and common equity with a focus on co-investments for organic growth, acquisitions, market or product expansion, restructuring initiatives, recapitalizations, and refinancing.